Roving stop

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus to stop the supply of roving to a drafting system when an end breaks by physically rotating a cut-off member into the path of flow of the roving supply.

United States Paten Ingham, Jr.

[451 Apr. 30, 1974 ROVING STOP Robert M. Ingham, Jr., Spartanburg, SC.

Assignee: Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg, SC.

Filed: May 18, 1970 Appl. No.: 38,447

Inventor:

US. Cl. 57/84, 57/56 Int. Cl D01h 13/18 Field of Search 57/34, 78, 80, 83, 84,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1970 Kent et al. 57/34 3,486,319 12/1969 Lee, Jr. et a1 57/34 1,973,552 9/1934 Williamson 57/87 X, 1,612,469 12/1926 Rhoades 57/84 3,063,229 11/1962 Bone1 57/84 3,369,357 2/1968 Fontellas 57/84 Primary Examiner-Werner 1-1. Schroeder Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Norman C. Armitage; H. William Petry; Earle R. Marden [57] ABSTRACT Method and apparatus to stop the supply of roving to a drafting system when an end breaks by physically rotating a cut-off member into the path of flow of the roving supply.

7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures mammmaowm $801361 SHEET 1 (1F 5 INVENTOR. ROBERTMJNGHAM IR.

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ROBERT M.|NGHAM,JR BY ATTORNEY PATENTEDAPR 30 I974 SHEET Q [If 5 INVENTOR ROBERT M. INGHAM,JR.

ATTORNEY PATENTEDAPR 30 m4 3 8-0 7.; 1 6-1 sum 5 OF 5 I INVENTOR. ROBERT M |NGHAM,JR BY ATTORNEY ROVING STOP This invention relates generally to drafting systems for spinning frames and in particular to the prevention of lap damage to a drafting system and yarn waste when a yarn break occurs between the ring rail and the front rolls of the drafting system.

When drafting roving or sliver prior to spinning into yarn, very often a break will occur between the rear drafting rolls and the ring and traveler of the spinning frame. Normally, the break will occur between the front drafting rolls and the ring and traveler of the spinning frame. When this condition happens the roving or sliver being supplied to the drafting system will either be collected in a vacuum conduit under the lower front drafting roll or will continue to be supplied to the front rolls causing the roving or sliver to wrap around the front rolls and then pile up between the front and middle drafting rolls. This pile up of fibers between the rolls can cause the aprons to freeze and be torn up by the rotating rolls. This condition is very severe on the lowerdrafting apron since the middle lower drafting roll is normally knurled which chews up the inside of the apron. If the condition occurs ,very often it causes a lot of inconvenience since only a limited number of spare aprons are available on the lower rolls and when these run out it is necessary to use spliced aprons which are inefficient in operation, thereby lowering the spinning frame efficiency and the yarn quality. Further, if there is a large build-up of fibers between the rolls, there will be a tendency for the drafting cradle to be broken and thereby not only require replacing of the cradle but also resulting in the destruction of both the drafting aprons.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus to prevent lap damage to a drafting system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lap damage preventer for a'drafting system which will stop the delivery of the roving or sliver being supplied to a drafting system when a break occurs in the fiber'being drafted and/or spun.

A still further object of the inventionis to provide a visual signal to the operator whenever a yarn end breaks.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a spinning room which employs an overhead traveling cleaner;

FIG. 2 is a blown-up view of the overhead traveling cleaner positioned relative to a portion of a spinning frame;

FIG. 3 isa cross-section view of one drafting position of a spinning frame showing the yarn break detector and roving stop in the inoperative position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG..3 except that the roving stop has been actuated;

FIG. 5 is a blown-up perspective view of the roving stop per se;

FIG. 6 is a blown-up section view of a portion of the roving stop flag carrier;.and

FIGS. 79 correspond respectively to FIGS. ,3-5 showing a modified version of the rovingstop.

Looking now to the drawings and especially FIGS. 1 and 2, the new and improved roving stopis used in conse is not part of the invention and is generally similar to that shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,372,425.

Each of the spinning frames 14 has a conventional drafting system 19 with a roving or sliver of staple fibers 11 being delivered into the nip of upper and lower rear drafting rolls 20 and 22, middle drafting rolls 24 and 26, front drafting rolls 28 and 30 to a ring and traveler 32 to form yarn Y by placing twist therein between the ring and traveler and the nip of front drafting rolls 28 and 30. Conventionally, top drafting rolls 20 and 28 are rubber covered rolls while intermediate top drafting roll 24 is knurled. Bottom front and rear drafting rolls 30 and 22 are fluted rolls while the middle bottom roll is knurled.

Inasmuch as the major amount of drafting is conventionally accomplished in the zone between the middle rolls 24, 26 and the front rolls 28, 30 from which the fibers proceed and are either twisted into yarn or drafted further, and since the running mass of fibers is also brought to a minimum size in the zone between the middle and front pair of rolls, it is most desirable that the fibers be controlled as closely as possible and to this purpose a double apron system, consisting of upper endless apron 34 and lower endless apron 36, is used. In a manner exemplified in the art, e.g., U. S. Pat. No. 3,3 86,1 36, upper and lower apron clearing and roll engaging members (not shown) are connected to cradle 38 and are supported within the aprons 34 and 36 and at one end have a concave surface engaging the rolls to clean the peripheral surface thereof and at the other end an apron reversing nose portion. Cradle 38 which has two upstanding wall members 40, one of which is shown, has a conventional roving shelf (not shown) .secured therebetween to guide the roving into the nip of the drafting rolls and between the aprons 34 and 36. This prevents the roving from falling down between the middle and back rolls, thereby preventing a lap updue to improper feed of the roving into the drafting system 18.

For reasons hereinafter explained, the traveling cleaner 10 has an electronic scanner 42 depending therefrom which looks at the yarn endat each spindle position and generates a signal upon the detection of the absence of yarn between the front drafting rollsand the ring and traveler. This scanner per se is not part of the invention and can be any of a number of commerciallyjavailable scanners. Also, connected to the traveling cleaner I0 is an air nozzle 44 connected to a source of air under-pressure (not shown) controlled by suitable means such as a solenoid valve.

Looking now to FIG. 5, the roving stop 45 is shown indetail andbasically consists of a semi-cylindrical portion46 which encircles the bottom rear drafting.roll ,22, an upstanding arm portion 48 molded to the semicylindrical portion 46 and a flag 50 pivotally connected at 52 to the projection 54. As seen in FIG. 6, the bottom of the flag 50 is hollowand has a detent 56 projecting out'wardlytherefrom andbiased tosuch position by -a spring 58. Preferably the semi-cylindrical portion .46

and'the arm 48 aremade from a readilymoldable material whichhas good-stability and .wear characteristics. The semi-cylindrical portion 46 of the roving stop 45 has a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the roll to provide a good fit.

Looking now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the operation of the roving stop will be explained. In FIG. 3 the roving stop 45 is shown in the inoperative positionin that the detent is contacting the roll neck 60 of the top rear roll 20 preventing the semi-circular portion 46, telescoped over the lower bottom roll 22, from rotating counterclockwise with the bottom roll.

Periodically the traveling cleaner l riding on the track 12 will pass each spindle position of each spinning frame being cleaned. As it passes each spindle, the electronic scanner will scan the yarn to determine whether the yarn end has come down. If the end has i come down, such as shown in FIG. 4, the electronic scanner, when it detects the break, will generate a signal to actuate a solenoid valve to momentarily supply air under pressure to the air nozzle 44. The air nozzle 44 is so located that the air from the nozzle 44 will impinge the flag 50 pivoting same clockwise against the action of the spring 58 and detent 56. As soon as the detent 56 clears the roll neck 60, the semi-circular portion 46 of the roving stop 45 will rotate with the roll 22 to rotate the leading edge 62 of the portion 46 into the nip of the rolls and 22. This lifts the roll 20 off the driving surfaceof roll 22 and stops the supply of roving 11 into the nip. The supply of roving will then be stopped until an operator or spinner comes along and resets the roving stop and pieces up the yarn end.

The modification of FIGS. 7-9 is generally similar to that of FIGS. 1-6 except the roving stop has been modified. In the modification of FIGS. 7-9, the parts which are the same as the parts in FIGS. 1-6 have been given the same reference number. Looking in particular at the roving stop per se in FIG. 9, it has the semi-circular portion 46 and resilient arm 64 molded thereto with arms 66 and 68 projecting outwardly therefrom to which the flag 70 is pivoted thereto at 72. The arm 64 also has a flange 74 connected thereto which limits the counterclockwise motion of the flag 70. The lower tip of the flag 70 has a detent portion 76 which engages the roll neck 60 to prevent rotation of the roving stop with the roll 22.

As with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, the flag 70 will be impinged by an air jet from the nozzle 44. This will cause the arm 64 to bend slightly and allow the flag to be clockwise to allow the detent to clear the roll neck so that the roving stop can rotate with the roll to insert the portion 62 thereof into the nip of rolls 20 and 22 to stop the supply of roving thereto.

It can readily be seen that I have provided a system to automatically inspect and stop the supply of roving to any spindle on the spinning frame upon the detection of a yarn break. The disclosed systems are automatic, simple, reliable and can be readily reset by an operator or spinner. Also it can be seen that an operator can look down a side of the spinning frame and determine changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention and I desire to be limited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

l. A drafting system comprising: a plurality of pairs of rolls in nip forming engagement, means supplying fibers to be drafted to said drafting system, roving stop means operably associated with at least one roll of said pairs of rolls, said roving stop means including a flag means and means to actuate said flag means to allow said roving stop means to stop the supply of roving into said drafting system, said roving stop means including a partially circular portion encircling a portion of said one roll and said flag means engaging the other roll in nip forming engagement with said one roll to prevent said circular portion from rotating with said roll.

2. A system to spin fibers comprising: a spinning frame, a traveling cleaner supported above said spinning frame, said spinning frame having a plurality of drafting systems, each of said drafting systems having a plurality of rolls in nip forming engagement, each of said drafting systems having a roving stop means operably associated therewith, electronic scanning means operably associated with said traveling cleaner to detect the breakage of yarn coming from any of said drafting systems and means operably associated with said traveling cleaner to actuate said roving stop means upon detection of a yarn break by said means to detect a yarn break to cut off the supply of roving into the drafting system whereat the yarn break was detected,

7 said roving stop means including a circular portion encircling a portion of one of said rolls in each drafting system and a flag means projecting upwardly therefrom.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said circular portion has an elongated'portion attached thereto, said flag means being pivotally attached to said elongated portion.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein said flag means engages the roll in nip forming engagement with said one roll to prevent rotation of said roving stop means with said one roll.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said means to actuate said roving stop means is mounted on said traveling cleaner.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said means to actuate said stop means is an air nozzle supplied with air under pressure.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said means to detect a yarn break is an electronic scanner. 

1. A drafting system comprising: a plurality of pairs of rolls in nip forming engagement, means supplying fibers to be drafted to said drafting system, roving stop means operably associated with at least one roll of said pairs of rolls, said roving stop means including a flag means and means to actuate said flag means to allow said roving stop means to stop the supply of roving into said drafting system, said roving stop means including a partially circular portion encircling a portion of said one roll and said flag means engaging the other roll in nip forming engagement with said one roll to prevent said circular portion from rotating with said roll.
 2. A system to spin fibers comprising: a spinning frame, a traveling cleaner supported above said spinning frame, said spinning frame having a plurality of drafting systems, each of said drafting systems having a plurality of rolls in nip forming engagement, each of said drafting systems havinG a roving stop means operably associated therewith, electronic scanning means operably associated with said traveling cleaner to detect the breakage of yarn coming from any of said drafting systems and means operably associated with said traveling cleaner to actuate said roving stop means upon detection of a yarn break by said means to detect a yarn break to cut off the supply of roving into the drafting system whereat the yarn break was detected, said roving stop means including a circular portion encircling a portion of one of said rolls in each drafting system and a flag means projecting upwardly therefrom.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein said circular portion has an elongated portion attached thereto, said flag means being pivotally attached to said elongated portion.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein said flag means engages the roll in nip forming engagement with said one roll to prevent rotation of said roving stop means with said one roll.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein said means to actuate said roving stop means is mounted on said traveling cleaner.
 6. The system of claim 5 wherein said means to actuate said stop means is an air nozzle supplied with air under pressure.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein said means to detect a yarn break is an electronic scanner. 